Online Poker Room Granted License In Italy – PokerStars.it

Monday, October 20th, 2008 by t2admin

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, announced last Friday the launch of an Italian-only version of its online poker room at PokerStars.it. Just days prior, PokerStars had been given the heads-up from Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS), who granted PokerStars a license to offer its online poker services within the country.

With the launch of PokerStars.it, Italians will now be able to participate in real-money online poker tournaments, so long as they fall within the limits of Italian legislation. Because of the laws in place, PokerStars will be supplying an exclusive tournament line-up at the new Italian poker site, where buy-ins range from €0.50 to €100.

Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri commented on the new addition, “Players on PokerStars.it will have the opportunity to win their entry into famous international poker events such as the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. These competitions require players to have the right mix of skill, training, concentration and luck.”

As Dario and fellow Italian poker pro, Luca Pagano, reach new heights of success in their illustrious careers, the popularity of poker in Italy is also on a steep incline. According to market research, the industry estimates that 500,000 online poker accounts will be opened by Italian customers in the first year of legalization. Those numbers are expected to generate around €400-million.

Fabio Angeli Bufalini, named Italian county Manager of PokerStars, stated “PokerStars is proud to be entering a flourishing market with this new product. This is a ground breaking time for the online poker industry, and it’s very exciting that the Italian market is pioneering this move. This also is the start of a global template which could potentially be adopted in other markets internationally in the next few years.”